Winston-Salem State and Virginia State Remain Undefeated in Conference Play

By Taleasha A. Reavis

Winston-Salem State (2-0, 2-2) trekked to Fayetteville, NC, and knocked off Fayetteville State (1-3, 1-4), 44-0. The Rams started their assault in the first quarter with a touchdown run from Terrie Newkirk. Newkirk had 14 carries for 55 yards and a touchdown in yesterday’s action. Kicker Shawn Thomas followed with the PAT and two consecutive 31 yard field goals to assist in the win. The Rams gained most of their yardage on the ground. Quarterback Tory Woodbury only completed 2 of 9 passes but they resulted in two (2) touchdowns for his squad. The Broncos of Fayetteville State only gained 73 offensive yards against the Rams. Chris Stewart, quarterback, completed 12 passes for 156 yards to aid in the effort. Linebacker, Terrence Wilson, had 9 tackles (6 solo, 3 assisted) for the Broncos.

Virginia Union (2-1, 3-2) picked up another conference win by licking Bowie State (1-2, 2-3), 39-6. The Panthers capitalized on Bowie’s poor offensive plays to come out with the win. Virginia Union had 421 offensive yards on the day compared to Bowie State’s 211 total yards. Quarterback Jasun Thompson completed 8 passes for 106 yards and a touchdown. Mackise London gained 119 yards on 12 carries and hauled in two (2) touchdowns for the Panthers. Quarterback Jimmy Whitehead struggled during the game, completing just 6 of 20 attempts for 111 yards and three (3) interceptions. But he scored the sole touchdown for his team with just 3:38 left in the first half of play. Linebackers Lee Best and Michael Bance did their duties on defense to halt the Panthers. Best recorded a career game-high of 19 tackles (9 solo, 10 assisted) while Bance had 14 tackles (5 solo, 9 assisted).

Virginia State (3-0, 3-2) remains undefeated in the conference, beating Livingstone (1-2, 2-3), 17-0. Antonio Hawkins completed 18 passes for a total of 213 yards and a touchdown. On defense, Ohnja Bynum and Kevin Parker tallied 10 tackles (5 solo, 5 assisted) each. The Blue Bears of Livingstone relied on their ground game to try to thwart the Trojan attack. They gained 226 rushing yards on the day. The leading rusher was D’Andre Hopper with 11 carries for 104 yards.

N.C. Central (1-2, 2-3) ran over Elizabeth City State (0-3, 0-5), 35-6. The Vikings allowed the Eagles to rack up 455 (421 rushing, 34 passing) yards of offense. Junior Bulla was the leading Eagle rusher with 23 carries for 183 yards and two (2) touchdowns. Darrell Nesbitt, the leading scorer in the conference, finished the day with 7 carries for 31 yards and a touchdown. Chris Gilmore was the leading tackler with 11 (6 solo, 5 assisted). In the fourth quarter, Jamon Allensworth successfully caught a 31 yards pass from Percell Knight to give the Vikings six points.

In non-conference action, Johnson C. Smith (1-2, 1-3) fell 38-2 to Liberty. Liberty only allowed the Golden Bulls to gain 138 total offensive yards. The team scored a safety at the end of the third quarter to put them on the board. Defensively, Antonio Jamison knocked down 13 opponents (12 solo, 1 assisted).